On the recommendation of a colleague, I recently started listening to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History Podcast – specifically, his Blueprint for Armageddon series about World War One. Since I started the series last week, I’ve been pretty hooked. Dan Carlin
Qualification Tests: A Terrible Way to Measure Qualification
Last week one of my friends applied for a job with the NJ Transit Authority. Long story short, he didn’t get the job. Before I continue – let me tell you a little bit about my friend (I’ll call
Cross Training
I still remember how it felt during my first week of work in the ad agency world: walking down the halls past unshaven creatives, weaving through cubicles of media planners, and schmoosing with account executives. I had finally made it
Lifelong Learning
Just a short thought for today. Over the course of my career I’ve had a lot of successes and a lot of challenges. There have been reasons for celebration and reasons for reflection. In both states, learning has always been
Education and Learning from Peers
With the office closed, the last week has been a great time to clear my head, reflect on 2014 and prepare for the year ahead. It’s really been a great week. I got to spend some time with family, do
The Economics of Higher Education
For the last few years, I have been doing some volunteer work in college fundraising. Coming from the advertising and marketing industry, I help advise on fundraising marketing, media planning, and data analysis. I see it as an easy way
Higher Education, a Passion for Learning and Doing Things That Matter
This past Thursday I had the privilege of speaking at an NYU master’s course on Database Management and Modeling. A former colleague who serves as an adjunct professor invited me to talk about ad tech and how the role of
Summer Jobs and Hard Work
This past weekend Miranda and I drove down to Baltimore to spend a few days with my parents. Outside of the absolutely dreadful traffic on I-95, it was a perfectly pleasant weekend. We had nice weather on Saturday, we got
Learning a New Skill
Most of the students in my seventh grade math class studied trigonometry. I, on the other hand, studied something far more valuable to my long-term education: pen tricks. Throughout my childhood I always noticed that all of the smartest people
Looking Back on My Own Ignorance
I was very lucky to spend this pre-holiday weekend in my hometown of Baltimore visiting with family and friends. The weekend was full of great food, family bonding, and playing with my one-year-old niece Stella (who is the cutest!). Another